Finances 101: Saving Money in College

Many students find themselves worried about the expense of college. Everyone knows how expensive it is and you will find that aside from just paying for tuition and room and board, there are many other expenses. Maybe your parents paid for the education part, but now you have to pay for everything else you need for your first year. This can seem overwhelming. You may be wondering what you can do to save yourself a bit of money. There are many ways that it can be done. Want to know how?

When you go to college, you will need a computer to do your work. If you have a home computer, but it belongs to the family and you do not have a laptop, you may be wondering what you will do for a computer for school. Laptops are pricey and range from a few hundred dollars up. If you do not want to spend that much money, you will find that every college has a computer lab. Most of these labs are open late or even 24 hours so that students just like you who do not own computers can still do their work. Sometimes, these computer labs will even sell old machines to students at reasonable prices when they get new computers. You will find that you have a lot of papers to print in college, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that you will need to purchase a printer. Computer labs also have printers, as does the campus library and if you need to print something, you can just pay for the pages you need to print. This may only cost you a few dollars, whereas a printer can cost over a hundred. Think about what textbooks you will need for class. Some are required and some are just suggested. If you do not need all of them, don’t get all of them. If you want to get all of them, you should consider not buying brand new books, and get used books. You could even use the library’s copy of the book if you want to. Another great way to save money in college is to not go out to eat all the time. You have a meal plan for a reason, and if that is not enough for you, you should get some foods in bulk that you can cook in your dorm. Even consider getting a crockpot!

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There are many expenses in colleges, but there are also many ways to avoid spending unnecessary money. You just need to know what to splurge on and what you will have access to for a lot less money or even for free. College is already expensive, and you may have loans out as it is, so you do not want to run yourself or your parents into more debt. Just use your head when it comes to college. Only buy what you absolutely need and save the rest of your money!

About the Author

Terrie P. is a writer for AspiringNurse.com. If you are interested in learning more about the lvn salary and you want to enroll in one of the many lvn programs, this site can help you choose the best one for you.